


Night Terrors

by quitetheaudity



Series: Night Terrors [1]
Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Could be interpreted as neilisson but isn't necessarily intended to be, Crying, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, God I love Harrison, Harrison's parents fuckin suck bro, Hurt/Comfort, Max is a little shit but cares about his friends, Neil is a good friend, Night Terrors, Rated T for swearing, TW - Mentions Of Child Neglect, TW - mentions of abuse, Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-04-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:02:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23858035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quitetheaudity/pseuds/quitetheaudity
Summary: Neil hears screaming from Harrison's tent in the middle of the night and goes to investigate.
Relationships: Harrison/Science Camp Neil (Camp Camp), kind of - Relationship
Series: Night Terrors [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1719247
Kudos: 56





	1. Screaming

Neil's about halfway to the campfire when he hears screams from a nearby tent. 

It was decently late into the night when Neil realized that he left his phone at the campfire. He couldn't sleep without it, so he headed back to retrieve it. But on his way there, he heard screams coming from Harrison's tent. 

Now, he and Harrison didn't understand each other on the best of days and downright didn't like each other on the worst. But if there was a murderer at Camp Campbell (again), he'd want to be the second to know. The first being Harrison, of course, because if there WAS a murderer he definitely already knew up close and personal. 

But also, like, he wasn't a monster. The concern wasn't all for his own safety. 

He pushed open Harrison's tent flap to see him sitting up in his cot and shaking, sweat plastering his hair to his forehead. He looked scared out of his mind, and Neil thought he saw tears making their way down his face. 

"What the fuck is going on in here?" He stage whispered. "I heard you screaming!" 

Harrison sniffled, wiping his eyes with his strikingly gloveless hands (wait, why was that surprising to Neil? Of course he didn't wear them in his sleep). 

"It's fine," he said quietly. "Go back to your tent."

Neil shook his head, climbing the rest of the way into the tent. He sat down at the edge of his cot. 

"Talk to me, man. Are you having night terrors? What's happening with the screaming?" 

Harrison shook his head quickly. "No, it's fine, please just leave, I promise I'm ok."

"You don't look ok," Neil said bluntly. "And like I said, I heard you screaming. If that wasn't night terrors, what was it?" 

Harrison was quiet for a moment. He sighed, running a hand through his already messy hair. 

"Fine," he admitted quietly. "Yes, I have night terrors. Why do you care anyway?" 

"I'm not heartless, Harrison. Sure, it bothers me sometimes that you don't believe in science and that I can't figure out some of your tricks, but you're still my friend. Or at least my acquaintance. I care about you."

Harrison's eyes widened in surprise. "Really? You do?" 

Well, that was concerning. "Yeah, of course I do."

Harrison wrapped his arms around himself. "Sorry, I'm just not very used to hearing that."

"It's alright," Neil said, crawling over to sit down next to him and putting a hand on his friend's shoulder. He only grew more concerned when Harrison's eyes widened again. Was he ever shown affection at home? Or even attention?

"Um… would you mind telling me why you've been having night terrors?" Neil asked cautiously. He didn't want to push too much. 

"I've had them since I made my brother disappear," he said, staring down at his hands like he'd just done it 2 seconds ago. 

"...Oh."

Harrison pushed a hand into his hair. "No, you don't want to hear about that."

"No, I do," Neil reassured him. "I just didn't really know what to say to that."

"That makes sense. I wouldn't know what to say, either." He cast his eyes away, holding himself again in place of staring at his hands. 

Neil nudged him, encouraging him to say more about his recurring night terrors. 

"I've had these horrible nightmares almost every night since he disappeared. I dream about my magic, about my parents, about seeing him disappear right in front of me and never being able to bring him back, no matter how hard I try. I dream about killing all my friends by accident with my magic, I dream about my parents kicking me out because they're so scared of me. I dream about finally getting my brother back, only to see that he's dead. I feel like I haven't gotten a good night's sleep in years."

"...Holy shit, dude."

Harrison squeezed his eyes shut. "No, I'm sorry, I said way too much. I'll stop talking about it."

"No, it's ok! I'm just…kinda concerned, y'know? It sounds like you're just always quietly suffering." Neil said, quickly learning that talking about a difficult subject with Harrison required constant reassurance. 

"I'm not constantly suffering. I'm fine most of the time. It's only bad if I think about it too much." Harrison said, picking at his fingernails. Neil noticed that he tended to move his hands a lot when he was nervous. 

"That's still not good," Neil said gently. "Have you considered asking your parents to take you to see a therapist?" 

Harrison shook his head. "I can't really ask my parents anything at all. I never see them. Ever since I made my brother disappear, they've been terrified of me. They won't talk to me, they leave the room if I walk in, they only drive me somewhere if it's an emergency. I've gotten used to living on my own, even though technically I don't."

If Neil became any more concerned about this boy he was convinced he was going to have to take him home himself. 

"Maybe you could talk to David," Neil suggested. "He goes nuts for sad kids. Have you seen how he interacts with Max?" 

Harrison cracked a small smile, and Neil inwardly congratulated himself. 

"What would I even say, though? It's not like I'm being abused, my parents don't hit me or anything."

Neil frowned. "Harrison, it sounds like you're being neglected. That's a form of abuse."

Harrison's eyebrows shot up. "I'm not being neglected! I mean, sure, I don't see them much, but they still feed me! Or, rather, they still buy food… and it's been a while since I really had a conversation with them… and they rely on me to get to places on my own… shit, Neil, I think maybe I'm being neglected."

Neil made a split second decision. He leaned over and wrapped Harrison in a hug. He froze up, and for a second Neil thought he'd made the wrong decision, but then he felt Harrison hesitantly hug him back. A few seconds into the hug, Harrison buried his head in his shoulder, and he felt his shirt getting wet with tears. 

"I miss my brother," he said quietly. 

"Tell me about him," Neil replied. 

"He was 5 years older than me," he began, slightly muffled from Neil's shirt. "And he would take care of me when my parents wouldn't. They've been scared of me ever since I started doing magic, but it only got worse when he disappeared. He made me food and walked me to school, and I would practice magic with him. I was practicing a disappearing spell with him when I just… I just…" He sobbed harder, clutching Neil's shirt in his hands. 

Neil held him close, reassuring him and making sure he knew he wasn't alone until his sobs died down. 

"I could really use a friend here at camp, you know. I feel so alone sometimes," he croaked, voice still hoarse from crying. 

"I'll be your friend," Neil offered. Honestly, he kind of had to at this point. 

Harrison smiled shakily. "I'd like that, Neil."

"Do you think you'd be alright on your own if I went back to my tent?"


	2. Good Morning

When Max woke up, Neil wasn't in his tent. He figured he probably got lost on the way to the bathroom or something, so he wasn't all too bothered. 

When he got out to the campfire for the morning head count and he still wasn't there, he began to get worried. He figured he'd just wait until the rest of the campers came in. 

////////  
Harrison's eyes opened slowly. He was startled to see another pair of eyes inches from his face. 

Scooting back on instinct, his heartbeat returned to normal when he realized it was just Neil. He'd slept in his tent last night. It was one of the first nights in years where he'd slept soundly. No nightmares. No tears. 

When Neil woke up, Harrison was already dressed. He was rolling the edges of his gloves between his fingers. Neil knew that meant he was nervous. 

"Harrison? What's wrong?" 

Harrison whipped his head around, not expecting Neil's voice. 

"Neil, people are going to get suspicious if we both leave my tent! What are we going to do?" 

Oh, shit. Neil hadn't thought of that. 

"Um… Maybe you could leave 10 minutes before me? And then I'll sneak out later?" 

Harrison nodded. "Yes, that's a good plan. I'm gonna leave now."

Neil gave him a thumbs up. It was times like this when he was glad he slept in his clothes to save time.  
/////////

When Harrison came out of his tent before Neil showed up, Max only got more worried. Harrison was always one of the last people to arrive, since he needed extra time to make sure his hat wasn't acting up in the morning. He'd already asked all the other campers present if they'd seen Neil. Harrison was next on his list. 

"Hey, Harrison. Have you seen Neil today?" 

Harrison's eyebrows shot up. "Wh-what? Why would I have seen Neil?" 

Max rolled his eyes. "Chill out, man. I'm asking everyone."

Harrison visibly relaxed. "Oh. OK. I haven't seen him."

Max squinted his eyes. "Why are you so nervous this morning?" 

"I'm not nervous!" he practically yelled. 

"What do you know about Neil?" he yelled back. 

"What are you guys talking about?" Nikki interjected. 

"Neil's missing, and Harrison's acting weird!" 

"Have you checked the attic?" Nikki suggested. 

"No, but his journal's still in our tent."

Harrison took this opportunity to inch away from Max and Nikki, putting a few feet between them before sprinting over to Nerris on the other side of the campfire. 

10 minutes later, Neil came out of Harrison's tent. Unfortunately, the plan didn't work at all, as Max had come over to Harrison's tent to interrogate him, and was still talking to Nikki nearby. 

"No, I don't think that he-- oh my God, Neil! There you are! Why the fuck were you in Harrison's tent??" 

Neil sighed, frustrated. He slapped himself on the forehead. 

"Dammit!" he hissed. 

"You and Harrison need to explain yourselves! Nikki, go get Harrison! I'm running an investigation!" 

Neil groaned, looking up at the sky. 

Nikki came back a few seconds later dragging Harrison by the arm. Nerris tagged along close behind. 

"I got him!" Nikki said. 

Max smiled. Let the interrogation begin. 

He slowly walked over to Neil, folding his hands behind his back. 

"Neil," he began. "This morning, you were gone from our tent. Last night, though, you settled down for sleep in the place you always are. At what point did you leave our tent and go to Harrison's?" 

"Uh, I don't know." He answered. "Like, around midnight maybe?" 

"And Harrison," Max continued, swiveling around on his heel to face him. "WHY was Neil in your tent? What kind of freaky shit were you two getting up to in there?" 

Neil tugged Harrison's sleeve carefully. "You don't have to tell him if you don't want to," he said. "I can make him shut up if you need me to."

"No the fuck you can't!!!" Max yelled, but Neil was more focused on Harrison. 

"No, it's ok," Harrison said, smiling softly. "I'll handle it."

He cleared his throat and turned to Max. "Neil was in my tent because he heard me screaming," he stated. "I have really bad night terrors. He stayed with me last night to make sure I was ok."

"...oh." Max said, slightly dumbfounded. "Shit, dude. I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"It's ok," he said. "I'm not really ashamed of it anymore." He turned and smiled at Neil. 

Neil smiled back proudly, giving him two thumbs up. 

Later, Harrison and Neil sat together in the mess hall for lunch. 

"Hey, Neil?" Harrison asked hesitantly. 

"Yeah, dude?" 

"... Thank you. For everything. It means a lot to me that you stuck around and listened to me last night."

Neil put an arm around Harrison's shoulder, pulling him in. 

"Yeah, of course man. I'm here if you ever need me."

And for the first time in a while, Harrison had someone he could really, truly trust.

**Author's Note:**

> This is part one of a two-parter fic :). The second part is way longer but I actually didn't write this fic to set up that one, I just had the idea for it and it was too good to ignore, imo. Thank you so much for reading!!! If you wanna find me elsewhere, my instagram is @quitetheaudity, and my art account is @cursed_waluigi, which is where you'll find more Camp Camp content. Have a great day!! :D


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